July 31, 2012

Id love for you to all meet Illanique, a creative and talented Food stylist from South Africa.

I met Illanique over onPinterestand adore all her inspirations and pins, she has an awesome eye for beautiful details and it can be seen in her styling work!

Welcome Illanique!!

Can you tell us what is currently
inspiring you?

I’m
a real bookworm and a sucker for a pretty magazine.

International cooking
magazines are my kryptonite but I get so much inspiration from browsing
recipes, trends and décor ideas.

I love getting on Pinterest and finding new
and exciting images – truly addicted!

Browsing small markets and antique shops
also does wonders when I lack creativity and need some inspiration for
photoshoots.

Name 3 things you
couldnt live without right now?

My
Blackberry, my dogs and coffee machine.

Can you define to us
your personal style?

Keep
it simple and feminine – I definitely go for the less is more approach.

Do you have a favourite colour (or
colour combinations)?

Grey
and Duck egg or Turquoise and Coral.

What about a favourite
Smell/Frangrance?

If
there’s one smell I would love to bottle it would be the smell of bread baking
in the oven. As far as fragrances go I love those with citrus and flowery
undertones like Mango Delirium or anything from DKNY.

What do you love
about your City/Town?

Down
here in Cape Town there’s hardly a day that we don’t see the sun.

Having so
many cultures in one city means that you can drive 5 minutes into town and have
a wide selection of local, Italian, Chinese, French, Mexican or Jamaican food.

I live right at the foot of Table Mountain and only a few kilometers away from
the winelands – the perfect spot to be in Cape Town.

I have travelled to so many
different countries and even after all those amazing trips I still get
emotional when I arrive back at Cape Town International airport.

Do you have a
favourite quote you'd like to share with us?

'Never get so busy making a living that you forget to make a life “ - anon

Thanks SO much Illanique!!! to see more of Illanique's styling work take a look at her beautiful website

July 29, 2012

All eyes on London
..have you been watching the Olympic Games? We are enjoying the highlights at our house although the time difference is going to mean a few late nights. My boys are old enough to sit and watch and appreciate the Olympic spirit. and what about the Opening ceremony!! it was so very british! i loved it. Im so happy for London! images - Tim Walker

July 27, 2012

Looks like its going to be a pastel Summer!yes, it sure looks that way...all the shops are displaying clothes in the sweet powdery shades - is all so very 1980s to me! (...been there done that)Do you like pastels?I think i prefer them in the home than on my body, how pretty is that table setting below?Being a brunette I prefer to wear lots of primary colours - black, white, blue, purple and I like to observe trends but I dont always follow them...I'm kind of unadventurous like that but anyway bring on Summer! Cant wait!

July 25, 2012

Reading... 'The Country Life' by Rachel Cusk and next up I have ‘On Rue Tatin: Living and cooking in a French Town’, a recommendation viaPinterest

Listening... Stevie Wonder and catching up on some Podcasts from BYW2 course

Watching... Good Chef Bad Chef, American Pickers and Project Runway AllStars ( I already know who wins as we are SO behind here in Australia but still great viewing)Buying... I just bought a vintage dress over on Etsy (so excited!!) waiting for it to arrive!Loving... Randel Plowmans new book‘The Collage Workbook’ Sunshine during Winter days, Pinterest for inspiration (and time wasting)

Wanting... a getway!! even a weekend away would be great right now….

Images by me - stack of books, by my garden shed and playing with some new paper

July 22, 2012

A Lovely Package
I took part in the 'Lovely Package' exchange over at Oh, Hello Friendblog - there were a few participants from Australia so thought Id join in too - its always nice to come home to some happy mail especially a lovely package waiting there to be opened!!
My swap partner wasCaitlinand below are all the wrapped parcels I mailed out to her - I decided to go with a red white and black theme.
I also found a vintage 'Gigi' song book cover at my local old wares shop - love that film (1958 with Leslie Caron) so sent that along with everything!

July 11, 2012

Natural History FolioLast month I was lucky enough to take a great craft class with Paula fromOneLuckyDay.

Paula was in Australia on holiday so when I spotted she was was teaching I knew I had to be in that class!I love her blogand crafty projects!

The class certainly did not disappoint. We made a Natural History Folio that we can keep adding to later on - the kit was full of pretty papers that we pasted and inked, rub-ons, ribbon which we hand dyed using distress stains.We also made a great butterflies & moths button for our folio cover - I love how it turned out, layers and layers of papers!It had been so long since I participated in a crafty workshop and although I had to leave a little early to pick up my boys from school ( I was on the other side of town) I loved what we made and feel inspired to create some more!

July 8, 2012

This goes with that...

Sharing some Pinterest fun this evening!
another 'this goes with that' post - so much visual inspiration over on Pinterest....

Did you all have a wonderful weekend?We had a busy one but also made sure we got time to relax. We enjoyed Saturday night at home - love that about Winter - early nights in!We watched a funny DVD with the kids! ....zone out time!Today we were invited to lunch to celebrate our gorgeous God-daughter Agathe's 8th Birthday - it ended up a four hour lunch - good food, wine, conversation and yummy Birthday cake!

July 5, 2012

*Pretty in Pink *
Ive completed my Clean Detox now and I'm still continuing on with some of the healthier habits Ive adjusted to... so no, this isn't me have serious sugar cravings!
This is me admiring such pretty sweet treats...pretty right??

July 3, 2012

Etsy picks of the week: Soft blue and white...
its been a little crazy in our house lately, the weekend came and went so fast
and my poor blog has been neglected, I just havn't had much time to post anything!
My boys are on school holidays and I had to go into work today - my normal day off, so both boys were a little upset that we didn't get to spend the day together (hanging out for Friday - my day off!!)

Hooray for my dad offering to look after them, they are so active and can end up being a real handful but they said they had a great day playing chess, drawing, having a BBQ lunch (yum!) with Pappou
and spending the afternoon at the park.
...so its now way past my bedtime and I will suffer in the morning but I leave you with my Etsy picks of the week in beautiful shades of blue and white!